Car-buffer



J. T. SGHFFER.

GARBUFFBR.`

` lPateanted May 291883.

. (No Model.) i

nml

i ATTORNEY ing contact of the cars and to the shock in` Narresti* trice.

JOHN T. SCHAFFER, onRocHEsrEn, NEW YORK.

.CAR-BUFFER.

SPECIFICATION `forming part of` Letters Patent No. 278,606, dated May29, 1883.v r i Application filed March 30,""l883. (Nomodel.)

Io all whom it" mag/concern t Be it knowri that I, JOHN T. ScHAFFER, acitizen ofthe United States, residingatRochester, in the county ofMonroe and State ot" New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Buffers; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, 'and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

The object of my invention is the improvement of railways-batters; andit consists in the employment, in combination with a`buffer rod anddisk, of a hydraulic and `pneumatic chambelga piston anda springarranged on each side of the piston, by means of which is produced aneffective resistance to the collidstarting themor on increasing theirspeed.

Itis illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings,

in whichr Figure lis a side elevation, partly in section, of myimprovement attached to the carframe; and Fig. 2, ahorizontalview insection. In the drawings, A represents the draw-head and buffer, of theusual form; B, a draw-bar, as

` welll as piston-rod; G, the piston, and D the cylinder within whichthe piston is arranged to move, as hereinafter described.

The cylinder is composed of two pieces of cast-iron, d and d', theformer being called, for convenience,the body ofthe cylinder, and thelatter part the cylinder-cap,77 bolted together by L-headed screw-boltsd2. It is secured to the timbers on the under side of the car by meansof straps (shown in dotted lines) and bolts cl2-as shown in Fig. 1. V isa lug cast on the head and cylinder-cap to prevent the strap fromslipping lengthwise along the cylinder. The body ofthe cylinder d isformed with a flange, e', by whichthe same is secured-by bolts to thetimber e2, running lengthwise of the car. l

The piston-rod B, at its outer end, is screwthreaded to receive thebuffer-disk; or the disk may be keyed thereto. A portion of the rod B,near the buffer-head, is turned out, as shown L at b, to accommodate abracket or support, f,

in which the piston-rod has an endwise move' ment, the distance betweenthe shoulders ot' the cut out portion being at least the same distanceas between the piston in its central position in the cylinder and theshoulders of the cylinder-head. The piston-rod B passes into thecylinder through the. stuffing-box Gr, the latter being of the usualconstruction, having a candle-wick filling, covered by a ring, h.

The piston Gis formed to slide closely within the cylinder, and in itsnormal position is held about the center of the cylinder by the actionof the springs E and E. The spring E is coiled loosely about the rod B,and the spring E is connected to one end of the cylinder by a J-shapedscrew, while its opposite end bears loosely against the pistonlhead. Thepistonh'ead has formed in its face an annular con- "cave recess, c,which gives to the cylinder increased space for the `pressure of the airand liquid cushions against the piston-head. y

t" 2 3 are passages through the piston-head to admit air and Huid fromone "side of the piston to the opposite side, and one Vof thesepassages, i3, is cut through the'head of the piston-rod.

K is a gasket or packing, composed of rubber or plumbago, and which isplaced in a dovetailed groove formed in the piston-head. On each sideofthe gasket is formed small creases Z Z, through which oil is forcedfor the purpose of lubricating the sides of the cylinder and top of thepiston-head.

f M is a pin inserted through a portion-of the y piston-head and intothe rod B to .hold the head more securely to the rod afteritis rivetedthereto. l

The cylinder is provided on its upper side with passages n n', to admitthe outer air within the cylinder and to opposite sides of thepiston-head. Theinterior walls of the cylinder are cored out at eachcorner, as shown, to form recesses,wherein are collected the gummed oiland dirt which accumulate Within thecylinder, and which, if not thuscollected, would cause cutting and wearing of the cylinder andpiston-head.

O is a rubber gasket resting in a groove in the cylinder-body d at itsjunction with the cap d to render the cylinder air-tight at that point.The placing of this gasket at the point named does away with` thenecessity ot' turn` roo ing a groove in the body d, and an oppositeannular flange in the cap d.

`i to the opposite side of the piston.

P is an oil-hole formed in the cap d of the cylinder to admit of theintroduction of oil or other fluids therein.

After charging the cylinder with a sufficient quantity of liquid to actas a cushion, but without enough to exclude a cushion of air on each andcompressing the airy and liquid ou that,

side of the piston. When the pistonfhea'd is thus forced back externalair is drawn into the cylinder through one ofthe passages n, while theair in the cylinder onthe opposite side of the piston-head is grad uallyforced out through the oppositev passage, n. kAt the same time some duid.and air in the front'of the piston head is forced back through thepassages i i2 As the piston-head also is thus forced backor forwardofthe passages n', an additional suction force is produced by means ofthe annular recess c', which increases the distance of the air or gasand liquid cushions, thus aiding to resist and retard the shock.Y Onstarting a train or car the ,pressure lis against the front spring, E,while, the compression andV operation of the air and liquid are the sameas before.

My invention is applicable also to sreetcars, ships, steamboats,Wharves,` or wherever shock is to be resisted or overcome by the meetingor sudden starting of similar large and heavy objects. i

I am aware that confined bodies of air and other compressibleiuids haveheretofore been employed to take up the shock produced by thecollidingbf cars; also, that air-cushions have been employedin'connectionwith a draw-bar to relieve the shock in starting a train;but

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a buffer, the combination of the hydraulic and pneumatic cylinder,provided with passages for the admission of the outer air, thepiston andthe pistonrod,whereby both air and liquid are at the same time utilizedas cushions both in colliding and in pulling, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination of the cylinder, the piston, the piston-rod, and thesprings, the said springs arranged within the cylinder and one '.on eachside of the piston to take up the shock inlcolliding orin pulling, andthe air and liquid cushions,l substantially as described.

3. In a buffer, the'combination of the cylinder, the piston, thepiston-rod, with a cut-out portion, such as b, and the springs onopposite sides of the piston, substantially as described.

4. The cylinder provided with the passages for the admission of airandof liquid, in combination with the piston provided with the passages foradmission to both sides of the piston of the air and liquid, and thepiston-rod, also provided with a similar passage, substanstantially asdescribed.

5. The combination ofthe cylinder provided with the lflange e',thedraw-ba-r vor piston-rod, with the cut-out portion b, andthc'timber-supportsfand e2, substantially as described.

In testimony WhereofI afx my signature in T. SGHAFFER.

